Day 9

The Battleship 12K was the perfect way to spend the morning of my Veterans Day. Most of the course was pretty average, but running into the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park was awesome! There were beautiful flags set up in the park, and all of the participants received small handheld flags to carry for the last bit of the race. Sandra and I joined Elena by the flags in the front of the park to honor her brother who passed last year, which was so special for us. In addition to the serious moments, the event was fun and festive, and Jennie and I ran new PRs and WRs (that's World Records) for the 12K distance. I loved seeing people carrying flags, wearing red, white, and blue, and having a good time together. With so much unrest and bad news recently, it's easy to forget that there are many good people in the world, and lots of good things are happening every day.

Another special thing today is that November 11 is the day I was initiated into my sorority, Alpha Gamma Delta. I love all of the lines of our Purpose, but one is, "To honor my home, my country, my religious faith," and I think that being initiated on Veterans Day is a special way to combine a day that's important as a sorority woman with a day that's important as an American. To celebrate, Dunkin' Donuts showed up to the finish line in style with boxes and boxes of donuts, and I had two donuts because I love myself and want to be happy, but I did not eat four because I'm trying to cut my quad butt. At the end, there were still plenty of donuts sitting around, and the friendly volunteer let me take a dozen for the road trip home. Some of the haters liked to call us "Alpha Grabba Donut," and my sister Valerie famously said, "They say Alpha Grabba Donut...I say, 'Why not?'" I love this shot Elena took with me holding the donuts in front of the ship. What a fun way to combine Veterans Day with my sorority!

Something that made today great: I had a delicious coffee during my statistics study session
Time I woke up: 6:45 am